Augusta, GA

Local swimmer Olivia Stewart is headed to Olympic Trials

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2024

Local swimmer Olivia Stewart is headed to Olympic Trials

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Former Evans and current Aiken-Augusta Swim League star Olivia Stewart is headed to Indianapolis for Olympic Trials.

There, she’ll be joined by Augusta Prep graduate and current South Carolina swimmer Amy Riordan.

Stewart will compete in the 100M breaststroke event, where her time of 1:10.13 earned her a spot against some of the best in the world. Riordan will compete in the 200M freestyle. The South Carolina swimmer holds the school record at 1:44.08.

Stewart shaved 2 seconds off her initial starting time this season to qualify, “I knew from the start, it was a far reach. I mean, two seconds. It might not sound like a lot, but it’s like a good chunk of time, two seconds. I wasn’t gonna lose anything if I didn’t try. So I just talked to my coach about it. We figured out what kind of splits are needed, what time I we need to go out and the first 50 back and the last 50. And so pretty much from maybe January or November to now we’ve just been slowly working at it, trying to get those splits right,” said Stewart.

“Two years ago, this wasn’t even a thought like I would have been irresponsible for me to even talk about it with her. She’s had a pretty meteoric rise, and I’m pretty excited about that,” said Stewart’s ASL Coach Greg Gillette.

She had 13 attempts at 100M breaststroke to get it right.

The Olympic rings are mounted on the Eiffel Tower Friday, June 7, 2024 in Paris. The Paris...

“When you fail 12 times in a row, it should wear on you. Most kids, it would kind of wear on them and get them into a negative headspace. But she never once wavered. She was enthusiastic the whole time,” said Gillette.

In one weekend, Stewart swam the event six times. She still failed.

There’s a reason they call it lucky number 13.

“When I hit the wall, and I heard everyone just like screaming and cheering for me it was it was like the most exciting moment of my life. It was so it was incredible,” said Stewart.

Knowing that she’ll be up against some of the fastest in the world isn’t phasing her a bit.

“Just to kind of take a look back at four years ago, when the last Olympic trials was going on. I was barely starting swimming. The more big meets you go to, the more used to it you get. You’ve got to look at it as no one’s really looking at me. Like I’m there for myself. When I’m racing, the whole building isn’t staring at me like, ‘Is she gonna go whatever time?’ It’s just me and trying to go my best time, so I’m competing against myself,” said Stewart.

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Augusta, GA

Local group holds 4th annual walk against autism

Published

6 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Local group holds 4th annual walk against autism

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – April is Autism Awareness Month, and one local group raised awareness with a walk in Augusta on Sunday.

The fourth annual autism walk was hosted by Moving Over Mountains Against autism at Lake Olmstead Park.

All proceeds from the walk support autism awareness initiatives.

We spoke with the CEO and founder of the group, Deidre Roberson, who said this year they are dedicating the walk to their photographer, who died recently.

Roberson told us what she looks forward to the most.

“I look most forward to seeing the different people every year. We always meet different people, new people, and they come from all over the CSRA, so Washington, Wilkes, Carolina,” she said.

There were also several vendors providing resources to families.

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Augusta, GA

From Augusta roots to Nighthawks leader: Nolan Belcher comes home

Published

18 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

From Augusta roots to Nighthawks leader: Nolan Belcher comes home

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- Augusta University baseball is in a three-game series matchup against the University of North Georgia.

AU is currently down in the series 0-2 after a close loss Friday and a loss Saturday.

But we aren’t focusing on the Jags, we’re going to take a look at North Georgia’s head coach, Nolan Belcher.

He is an Augusta native who began his career at Greenbrier and Augusta Christian.

He won three state championships, which then led him to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

There he won back-to-back national championships and finished runner up in 2012.

His coaching career began after that where he eventually joined the Peach belt Confrence, coaching at USCA and GCSU.

Now in his first season as head coach for the Nighthawks, he is happy to come home and coach in front of his friends and family.

“I’m very fortunate that I got family that, one is still around and they can come watch me do what I love. And, they’ve shown me, nothing but support throughout my whole coaching career and even back on my playing dates are very thankful and appreciative for everything they’ve done for me.”

AU and UNG will have their final series match on Sunday.

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